Method and apparatus for over-the-air programming of telecommunication services

ABSTRACT

A method for updating service information stored in a mobile station relies on the programmability of the station and over-the-air transmission of teleservice information. When a station is inactive, a delivery flag is set when the station subsequently registers the over-the-air transmission is performed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to over-the-air programming oftelecommunication services. More particularly, the present inventionprovides dynamic updating of mobile station databases to provideflexible telecommunication services.

An industry standard referred to as IS-136 defines a standard for mobilestations which communicate in the cellular and PCS bands. The standarddefines the basic functionality of the mobile station as well as thecommunication protocols between the mobile station and a mobile stationswitching center. One of the important aspects of a mobile stationdesigned in accordance with this standard is the programmability of thestation to be flexible in its operation.

The mobile stations employing this particular standard have beenrecognized as being useful for implementing a feature known asIntelligent Roaming (IR). This is a process that a mobile station orphone goes through to assure that it is receiving the best servicepossible regardless of the location that the phone is in.

The following description provides the background for understanding thesignificance of intelligent roaming in the mobile environment. Thisshould be understood as providing merely an example of one particulartelecommunication service which is available using an IS-136 mobilestation.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of the radio frequency spectrum. Frequencyrange 10 centered around 800 MHz has historically been known as thecellular frequency range and frequency range 12 centered about 1900 MHzis a newer defined frequency range associated with PersonalCommunication Services (PCS). Each range of frequencies, i.e., thecellular and PCS are broken into two portions. In cellular frequencyrange 10, there is up-link portion 14 which is used for communicationsfrom a mobile communication device to a base station such as a cellularbase station. Portion 16 of cellular frequency range 10 is used fordown-link communications, that is, communications from a cellular basestation to a mobile communication device. In a similar fashion, portion18 of PCS frequency range 12 is used for up-link communications, thatis, communications from a mobile communication device to a base station.Portion 20 of PCS frequency range 12 is used for down-linkcommunications, i.e., communications from a base station to a mobilecommunication device.

Each of the frequency ranges is broken into bands which are typicallyassociated with different service providers. In the case of cellularfrequency range 10, frequency bands 30 and 32 are designated band "a"for up-link and down-link communications respectively. In a particulargeographic area, a cellular service provider is assigned frequency band"a" to carry out mobile communications. Likewise, in the same geographicarea another cellular service provider is assigned frequency bands 34(up-link) and 36 (down-link) which are designated "b". The frequencyspectra assigned to the service providers are separated so as to notinterfere with each other's communications. This enables two separateservice providers to provide cellular service in the same geographicarea.

The U.S. government has auctioned the PCS frequency spectra to serviceproviders. As with the cellular frequency range, the PCS frequency rangeis broken into several bands where a different service provider may usea particular frequency band for which it is licensed within a particulargeographic area. The PCS bands are referred to as A, B, C, D, E, and F.The A band includes up-link band 50 and down-link band 52. The B bandincludes up-link band 54 and down-link band 56. Band C includes up-linkband 58 and down-link band 60. Each up-link and down-link band of the A,B, and C bands are approximately 30 MHz wide. The D band includesup-link band 62 and down-link 64. The E band includes up-link band 66and down-link band 68. Likewise, band F includes up-link band 70 anddown-link band 72. The up-link and down-link bands of bands D, E and Fare approximately 10 MHz wide each. It should be noted that with thesecellular and PCS frequency bands it is possible to have as many as eightdifferent wireless communication service providers in a particular area.

Each of the different cellular and PCS bands consist of control channelsand communication channels in both the up-link and down-link direction.In the case of analog cellular bands there are twenty-one controlchannels for the "a" and "b" bands. Each of the control channels includean up-link and down-link portion. The control channels transmitinformation such as a System Operator Code (SOC), a System IdentifierCode (SID), paging information, call set-up information and otheroverhead information, such as information relating to registering withthe mobile communication system.

A portion of the cellular band's spectrum not occupied by the controlchannels is used for communication channels. Communication channelscarry voice or data communications, where each channel consists of anup-link or down-link communications link. Presently, there are severalcellular communication standards. An analog standard known as EIA/TIA553was built upon the AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) standard. Thisstandard supports twenty-one Analog Control Channels, (ACC) and severalhundred Analog Voice or Traffic Channels (AVC). A newer standard is theEIA/TIA IS54B standard which supports dual mode operation. Dual modeoperation refers to having an analog control channel, and either ananalog/traffic channel or a Digital Traffic Channel (DTC). The AVC orDTC are used for actual communications, and the ACC is used to transferinformation relating to, for example, call set-ups, service provideridentification and the other overhead or system information. The EIA/TIAIS136 standard supports communications covered by both analog and dualmode cellular, and also includes a totally digital communication schemewhich was designed for the PCS frequency bands A to F and cellularfrequency bands "a" and "b". This standard allows for a digital trafficchannel and a digital control channel (DCCH). In the case of the DTC,not only is the voice or data communicated, but in addition, a digitalchannel locator (DL) is transmitted to the DTC. The DL enables a mobilecommunication device that locks onto the DTC to use the information inthe DL to locate a DCCH for purposes of obtaining information such asthe SOC, SID, paging information and other system overhead informationcarried on the digital control channel.

When a mobile communication device such as a mobile telephone, attemptsto register with the service provider, it locks onto a control channeland reads information such as the SOC and SID. If the SOC and/or SIDcorrespond to a service provider with which the user has a communicationservices agreement, the telephone may register with the serviceprovider's mobile communication system via the up-link control channel.

FIG. 2 illustrates a map of the United States illustrating cities suchas Seattle, Chicago and Washington, D.C. For example, in Seattlefrequency band A has been licensed to SOC 001 with a SID of 43 and bandC has been licensed to SOC 003 with a SID of 37. In Chicago, supposethat frequency band C has been licensed to SOC 001 with a SID equal to57, and that band B has been licensed to SOC 003 with a SID of 51. InWashington, D.C. suppose that frequency band "a" has been licensed toSOC 001 with a SID of 21, and that band A has been licensed to SOC 003with a SID of 17. It should be noted that the same SOC may be found inseveral different locations although on different frequency bands. Itshould also be noted that the same SOC will be associated with differentSIDs in each geographical area and that in the same geographic areadifferent service providers have different SIDs. If a particularsubscriber to a wireless communication service has an agreement with aservice provider having a SOC of 001, that subscriber would prefer touse systems with a SOC of 001 because the subscriber is likely toreceive a less expensive rate. When the subscriber is in Seattle, he orshe would prefer to be on band A, and if in Chicago, on band C, and ifin Washington, D.C., on band "a". The above described situation presentsa problem for a wireless communication subscriber. As the subscribermoves from one area of the country to another, the telephone when turnedon, searches for the "home" service provider or the service providerwith which the subscriber has a prearranged agreement. If, for example,the subscriber travels from Seattle to Chicago, when turning the phoneon in Chicago, the phone will search through the different bands of thespectrum to identify the service operator with the code 001 in order tofind the desired service provider.

In a co-pending application assigned to the same assignee as the presentinvention, the inventors recognized that it was beneficial to takeadvantage of the database capabilities within the IS-136 mobile stationsand store information to control the process by which a mobile stationsearches for a service channel when it is out of the its home region.This concept is referred to as Intelligent Roaming (IR). This concept isdescribed in U.S. Ser. No. 08/570,905 entitled "A Method for Selecting aWireless Communications Service Provider in a Multi-Service ProviderEnvironment", now U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,367. Other applications directedto Intelligent Roaming include: U.S. Ser. Nos. 08/570,904; 08/570,903;and 08/570,902, all are still pending before the Office.

While the IR functionality provides improved teleservice forsubscribers, it nonetheless does not take full advantage of theprogrammability of the mobile station and fails to address a problemthat arises specifically with respect to intelligent roaming, namely thechanges in agreements between service providers. In particular, it iscommon in the wireless communication area that relationships betweenservice providers will change over time. These are contractualarrangements which determine how subscribers of related services will betreated as they roam from one region to the next. It may so happen thatover time two service providers can have a favorable relationship thatsubsequently changes to an unfavorable relationship. Under thosecircumstances, if the mobile station has been pre-programmed withinformation for intelligent roaming then it may wrongly identify afavored partner/associate service provider as the customer roams throughvarious geographic areas. It is therefore desirable to provide a methodto make the intelligence of the mobile stations available to adapt thestation to such changes in provider capabilities and relationships.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method for enabling a service providerto provide telecommunication service updates to mobile stations withoutactive involvement of the subscribers of those stations. Morespecifically, the present invention provides that a database within theservice provider's network can be updated in accordance with changes intelecommunication services (such as changes in agreements with otherservice providers). This database can then automatically be sent to themobile stations to update the database information within the mobilestations. This updated information, which is used to control theoperations of the mobile station, such as to control the roamingoperation of the station as it is moved throughout various geographicareas, is provided over the air by the provider without specificactivities by the subscriber.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, serviceinformation is updated in a central database. A plurality of mobilestations having service information storage capabilities are identifiedand then a subset of this plurality of mobile stations is selected to beupdated. The method then detects whether a selected mobile station isactivated. If the selected mobile station is activated then updatedservice information is transferred from the central database to theselected mobile station. If the selected mobile station is not activatedthen the selected mobile station is designated to be updated when it islater activated.

The service information may include data for managing intelligentroaming operations. In addition, the step of identifying the pluralityof mobile stations having service information storage capabilities mayoccur automatically upon completion of updating of the central database.

In an embodiment of the method more specifically directed to intelligentroaming, an intelligent roaming database is updated. Subsequently,wireless telephones having over-the-air programmability are identified.Then, an update status indicator for wireless telephone having thisprogrammability is set. Then, in accordance with the method it isdetected whether wireless telephone has its update status indicator setis activated. If such a wireless telephone is detected to be activatedthen the intelligent roaming information in the updated database istransferred to the wireless telephone. If the wireless telephone isdetected to not be activated then the wireless telephone is designatedto receive the updated intelligent roaming database when the wirelesstelephone is later activated.

The present invention thus provides over-the-air programming of themobile station as it relates to teleservices associated with thatstation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a description of frequency allocations for cellular and PCScommunications.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the assignment of cellular and PCSfrequencies to two different system operators in three differentgeographic locations.

FIG. 3 illustrates in block diagram form an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a telecommunication service databasecontaining information to be transferred to a mobile station.

FIG. 5 illustrates a tabular presentation of information involved in amessage transfer from an over-the-air processor in FIG. 3 to a messageswitching center.

FIG. 6 illustrates a tabular presentation of a message format inaccordance with the protocol for defining communications between theover-the-air processor and the message switching center.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the format of an over-the-airprogramming teleservice message used in the communication between theover-the-air processor and mobile switching station of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 illustrates the allotment of communications channels which can beused to transmit the teleservice information over-the-air from themobile switching center of FIG. 3 to the mobile station itself.

FIG. 9 illustrates the format of a message transmitted by the mobileswitching station to the mobile station to effect a transmission ofteleservice information.

FIGS. 10 and 11 further define the format of the message transmitted tothe mobile station.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show the message flow in connection with an attempt toupdate a mobile station.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with the present invention, an architecture is providedfor providing over-the-air programming to the mobile station. In theembodiment which is described in further detail, the over-the-airprogramming relates to intelligent roaming information. However, itshould be recognized that this is merely an example of the type ofinformation which could be transmitted by the service provider to thesubscriber that has such a programmable instrument as the need mayarise.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of an architecture which will effectthe appropriate over-the-air programming of the subscriber's mobilestation.

Mobile station 30 complies with the IS-136 protocol requirements. Thismobile station 30 communicates over-the-air with mobile switchingstation 31. A customer service center 310 generates appropriateinformation regarding relationships between system operators so as todefine favorable and unfavorable system operator selections. Thisservice center communicates this system operator relationshipinformation to the message center (MC) 311. A distinct portion of thatmessage center is treated as an over-the-air processor (OTAP) 312. ThatOTAP includes an intelligent roaming database (IRDB) 313. As is typicalin a mobile environment, a home location register/authentication center(HLR/AC) 314 is coupled to the messaging center via a communicationsline that satisfies the IS-41 protocol. The visitor location register(VLR) 315 contains information which identifies the location of thesubscriber in a visiting geographic region. The VLR 315 communicateswith the HLR in an IS-41 protocol and also communicates with the mobileswitching center 31 with the same protocol. Finally, the protocol thatgoverns the communications between the OTAP 312 and MSC 31 is alsoIS-41.

In summary, an external terminal, via the customer service center (CSC)310, updates information regarding agreements between system operators.This information is subsequently supplied to the IRDB 313. After theupdate of the central database is completed, an update of the content ofthe memory within each of the programmable mobile stations can beinitiated either manually or automatically. After the initiation of theupdate process, the HLR 314 identifies the subscribers that haveprogrammable mobile stations that can receive updated IRDB information.Upon identification of these mobile stations, the HLR 314 signals theOTAP 312 to create a message for transmission to the identified mobilestation in which the updated contents of the IRDB 313 are transferredfrom the OTAP 312 to the mobile station 30. The transfer occurs via themobile switching center (MSC) 31. If, after the HLR 314 has indicatedthat an update should be performed, the MSC 31 indicates that theidentified mobile station is inactive, then the OTAP 312 will indicatethat fact to the HLR 314 which in turn will set a delivery pendingindicator (DPI) in the HLR 314 with respect to that mobile station. At alater time when that mobile station is activated and registers, the HLR314 will again prompt the OTAP 312 to create the appropriate messageincluding the update of the IRDB 313 which will then be sent via the MSC31 to the mobile station.

The above description provides a general description of the operationsperformed by the elements within the embodiment of the presentinvention. The following subsections will describe in greater detail thenecessary functions for the HLR, OTAP and MSC as well as thecommunications between these elements and between the MSC and the mobilestation.

HLR Requirements to Support Over-the-Air Programming

Certain functional requirements are necessary for an HLR to support theover-the-air program capability.

First, the HLR subscriber records should support more than one deliverypending flag, (DPF) to support a number of teleservices. That is, theHLR will support an indication that messages must be transmitted to theend user such as the over-the-air programming (OAP) described above orthe CMT (Cellular Messaging Teleservice). The HLR also supports theability to specify different message centers (MCs) for these CMT and OAPmessages. This implies that each delivery pending flag in the HLR willspecify a different message center address.

The HLR shall have the capability to set the OAP DPF for a particularElectronic Serial Number (ESN)/Mobile Identification Number (MIN), or arange of MINs for the maintenance terminal. If a range of MINs isselected, the HLR shall set the OAP DPF only for phones that are IS-136Rev. A or above. The range of MINs is specified as a block (that isNPA-Nxx-xxxx to MPA-Nyy-yyyy).

The HLR shall also prioritize the delivery of teleservice messages.Short message service SMS cellular messaging teleservice, SMS cellularpaging teleservice messages and over-the-air activation teleservicemessages shall have priority over OAP teleservices messages. If an SMSdelivery pending flag and an OAP delivery pending flag are both set fora mobile station then the SMS message delivery shall take priority overOAP.

The HLR must be capable of receiving SMS request messages from the OTAPin the message center. The HLR shall then inspect the SMS requestparameters including the SMS teleservice identifier for OAP. The HLRshall also check the MS status as either active or inactive. If the MSis active, then the HLR provides the servicing MSC point code as is donefor the SMS cellular messaging teleservice (CMT). If the MS is inactivethen the HLR sets a new flag defined in the subscriber profile toindicate that an OAP message is waiting to be delivered to the MS. Thisis an OAP message delivery pending flag. There shall be a OAP deliverypending flag for each ESM/MIN record that is IS-136 capable in the HLR.

The OAP delivery pending flag is cleared when the OAP message issuccessfully delivered.

The Functional Requirements of the Over-the-Air Activation Processor(OTAP)

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the OTAP isassociated with the message center MC. The following functionalrequirements must be supported by the OTAP so as to support over-the-airprogramming. The OTAP application shall be a separate application fromthe Message Center. The intent is to allow the OTAP application to existon the message center platform without the need for the SMS cellularmessage teleservice application to exist simultaneously on the platform.

The OATP shall store the latest intelligent roaming database. The IRDB,which may contain information from all of the mobile stations (or onlysome number of the stations where multiple IRDBs are employed), shall bestored in memory that is not cleared during any level of initializationor processor restart. Periodic maintenance of the OTAP shall confirm thevalidity of the IRDB data. Additionally, a backup mechanism should existfor storing the IRDB and the mechanism should be provided to reload thedatabase in the event of hardware failures.

The OTAP shall provide a mechanism for entry of the IRDB into the OTAPvia a maintenance terminal, and also for providing charges to individualfields in the database as required.

The OTAP shall receive a SMS notification from the HLR that instructsthe OTAP to deliver an IRDB to the mobile indicated in the request usingthe IS-41 protocol. The OTAP shall return an SMS notification to the HLRin response to this request and then will construct messages compatiblewith both the IS 41 protocol as well as the IS 136 protocol. The OTAPshall then provide a method for assigning a unique transactionidentifier to the OPTS message before it is sent to the mobile station.This identifier is used to identify acknowledgments from the mobilestation or the network. The OTAP shall support OPTS message deliveryusing the IS-41 Revision C SMS Delivery Point-to-Point with theappropriate SMS Teleservice Identifier. The IRDB shall be mapped intothe SMS BearerData. If the mobile station is determined not to beaccessible when a download is attempted, then the OTAP will request theHLR to set the over-the-air programming delivery pending flag (OAP DPF).

Signaling Between the HLR and OTAP

A primary interest in the implementation of the present invention is theinitiation of the updating operation. The HLR receives either a manualcommand or an automatic command after completion of updating of thecentral IRDB database to initiate updating of the mobile stations. TheHLR, under software control selects a predetermined number of mobilestations based on a criteria such as the MIN. The HLR then detects whichof the set of mobile stations within the MIN range defined has theIS-136 programmability feature. As the HLR steps through the MIN list ofidentified mobile stations it transfers a SMS request signal in IS-41protocol to the OTAP requesting that an updated IRDB be transmitted tothe identified mobile station.

MSC Requirements for Over-the-Air Programming

To support the implementation of the present invention the messageswitching center shall be capable of supporting SMS-DeliveryPoint-to-Point (SMS DPP) messages from the OTAP application in themessage center. The MSC also encapsulates an SMS BearerData from theSMDPP message onto an IS-136 R-Data message. This process is identicalto the delivery of an SMS cellular messaging teleservice (CMT) messageto a mobile station. Additionally, the MSC shall transparently pass anIS 41 SMDPP message to an IS-136A R-data message for SMS TeleserviceIdentifiers in a prescribed range. This will enable the OTAP tospecifically identify the teleservice of interest and more specificallyin the present environment to identify the updating of the intelligentroaming database as the functionality of the transmission of the shortmessage.

The remainder of the specification will describe details of thesignaling that performs the updating operation and the message flowwhich is a consequence of that signaling.

Signalling Between the OTAP and MSC

As described above, the OTAP includes the IRDB. An example of thecontents of this database are illustrated in FIG. 4. The IR control dataspecifies specific data used to control the intelligent roamingfunction. The band order defines the cellular and PCS band search order.The number of partners/favored/forbidden SOCs or SIDs defines the numberof system operator codes or system identifiers contained in the list.The total number of SOCs and SIDs is limited by the underlying transportlayers. Partner/favored/forbidden SIDs list includes a list of thepartners/favored/forbidden SIDs. These SIDs are fifteen bits in lengthaccording to the IS-136 standard. Similarly, thepartner/favored/forbidden SOC list identifies the list ofpartners/favored/forbidden SOCs where the SOCs are 12 bits in length asidentified by the IS-136 standard. The information regarding "numbercellular" identifies the number of probability blocks to search whilescanning in a cellular band. The Number PCS block identifies the numberof sub-bands to search when scanning in a PCS band. The re-scanned countspecifies the time to wait before doing a partial scan of the last bandused between history searches. Finally, the re-scanned loop specifieshow many triggered partial scans before going to a wide-band scanned.

The entire IRDB is downloaded to a mobile station via over-the-airprogramming. As initially considered, modification to the table occursthen the entire IRDB is downloaded to the mobile.

The construction of the signalling must take into account that under theIS 41 standard there is a limitation on the size of messages that can besent in a single short message delivery point-to-point (SMDPP message).Thus, the SMS BearerData associated with the definition of the IRDBupdate to the mobile station is somewhat limited, thereby limiting thenumber of SOCs or SIDs which can be provided in the IRDB.

As indicated the OAP teleservice messages are delivered from the OTAP toa short message entity (SME) in the mobile station first by providingsignalling to the MSC in an IS-41 protocol. The appropriate protocol isa SMS delivery point-to-point operation. The format of the parametersfor such an operation are illustrated in the table of FIG. 5. It is theSMS BearerData that contains the OPTS message. The format for the SMSBearerData is shown in the table of FIG. 6. The contents field portionof this BearerData contains the OPTS message and is formatted as shownin FIG. 7. The SMS Teleservice Identifier, FIG. 5, indicates theteleservice for which the SMS message applies. This identifier is usedby the MSC to map to the BearerData to the IS-136 R-data message. Inaccordance with the present invention, the selected teleserviceidentifier is among those reserved for carrier specific teleservices.The MSC will then transparently pass the message to the R data using aknown method.

The IS-136 Over-the-Air Interface

The over-the-air programming delivers information to the mobile stationover the error interface using the IS-136 R-data message over a SMSpoint-to-point, paging and access response (SPACH) logical channel ofthe Digital Control Channel (DCCH). The IS-136 also defines delivery ofR-data messages over the associated control channel of a digital trafficchannel.

FIG. 8 illustrates a DCCH channel structure. Upon power-up an MS entersthe control channel scanning and locking state when it is in the processof selecting a candidate service provider. Using the IS-136 DCCHscanning and locking control channel selection procedures, the MSselects a candidate (DCCH) and enters the DCCH camping state. The mobilestation shall receive the over-the-air programming messages while in theDCCH camping state via a SPACH notification of R data.

Delivery of the OAP information is a teleservice similar to the shortmessage service cellular messaging teleservice (SMS CMT). Theover-the-air programming messages are differentiated from otherteleservices by a higher layer protocol identifier. The OPTS builds uponR-data and all messages are contained within the R-data unit. FIG. 9illustrates a format of an OPTS message carried in R-data. The R-data isa relay message that is used to carry point-to-point teleservice layermessages. The format of the R-data message is illustrated in FIG. 10.The protocol discriminator identifies the protocol for the message beingsent while the message-type information identifies the function of themessages such as for teleservices.

An R-data unit format is illustrated in FIG. 11. The higher layerprotocol data unit referred to in FIG. 11 contains the OPTS message.

Upon receipt of an R-data message with OPTS the mobile station willacknowledge receipt of the OPTS message with an IS 136 R-data accept orR-data reject message on the random access channel (RACH). This channelis a reverse logical channel in the DCCH. The mobile station sends anR-data accept if the message is received and accepted. Otherwise, anR-data reject message is sent.

Message Flows

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate examples of message flows where IRDB updatesare requested by the HLR and the immobile station is either inactive(FIG. 12) or active (FIG. 13). In these figures the communicatingnetwork elements are shown at the top of the chart. The steps take placein accordance with the passage of time as delineated by the verticalaxis.

OAP to an Inactive MS

In step 1 an inter-carrier services group supplies IR table updates.OTAP operations personnel enter the updates into the OTAP. Through amanual process, the operator in each HLR is instructed to initiate theOAP process. It is envisioned that in the future such an instructioncould be automated rather than part of a manual process. In step 2, alist of ESN/MINs is defined for which the OAP process is to beperformed. At the HLR a command is issued on the maintenance terminal toset the OAP message waiting indicator for all IS-136 mobiles specifiedin the list. The remaining steps are then repeated for each ESN/MIN thathas an OAP message waiting indicator set.

Optionally, the HLR identifies the destination point code of the MSC forthe last registration of the IR-capable phone and sends an SMSREQ to theMSC. The mobile switching center cannot locate the IR-capable phone andreturns a SMSREQ to the HLR with a postponed indication (step 3).

At some point the IR-capable phone receives the system overhead, campson a DCCH, and sends a registration (step 4). When the MSC receives theregistration it sends an IS-41 registration notice (REGNOT) to the HLR(step 5). When the HLR receives this signal it registers the IR capablephone and sends a response back to the MSC which in turn, sends aregistration accept to the IR capable phone (step 6). The HLR thenidentifies that the IR capable phone has an OAP message waiting andsends an SMSNOT to the OTAP (step 7). The OTAP identifies that themobile station is awaiting an IR update and formats a message into anIS-41 SMDPP and sends it to a MSC using the address supplied by the HLR(step 8). The OTAP responds to the HLR and the HLR clears the OAPmessage waiting indicator for the ESN/MIN (step 9).

When the MSC receives the SMDPP it attempts to locate the mobile stationby sending an IS-136 SPACH notification message indicating R-data (step10). The mobile station responds to the notification and enters theterminating point-to-point teleservice proceedings state (step 11). TheMSC then packages the appropriate data into an R-data message and sendsit to the IR capable phone on the SPACH (step 12). The phone receivesthe R-data, identifies the message as being an IR table update andproceeds to update its internal IR database. It then sends an R-dataaccept back to the MSC which in turn sends a response to the OTAPindicating that the information has been received (step 13).

In FIG. 13, the mobile station is already active rather than inactive.The initial part of the process is very similar to that just described.In particular, the inter-carrier services group supplies the IR tableupdates and those updates are entered into the OTAP (step 1). Again, alist of ESN/MINs is defined for which the process is to be performed anda command is issued to set the OAP message waiting indicator for allIS-136 mobile stations within such a list (step 2). The HLR then beginsto process the OAP messaging waiting indicators by sequencing througheach ESN/MIN. Optionally, the HLR identifies the destination point codeof the MSC for the last registration of the IR-capable phone and sends arequest to the SMC to the MSC. The MSC then locates the IR capable phoneand returns information to the HLR within an SMS address (step 3). TheHLR in turn sends a notification to the OTAP to perform the update (step4). The OTAP then identifies that the "message waiting" is an IR updateand formats the message into an IS-41SMDPP and sends it to the MSC usingthe addressing supplied by the HLR (step 5). The OTAP responds to theHLR to identify that it has received the request. The HLR then clearsthe OAP message waiting indicator for that ESN/MIN. The MSC receives theSMDPP and attempts to locate the mobile station by sending an IS-316SPACH notification message indicating R data. The MS responds to thenotification message with a confirmation signal and enters theterminating point-to-point teleservice proceeding state (step 6). TheMSC then packages the data into an R-data message and sends it to the IRcapable phone on the SPACH (step 7). The IR-capable phone receives the Rdata, identifies the message as being an IR table update and proceeds toupdate the IR database. The IR-capable phone sends an R data accept backto the MSC. That MSC then sends a response to the OTAP (step 8).

Conclusion

The above detailed description sets forth an embodiment by whichover-the-air programming can be performed from a database in a messagingcenter to a programmable mobile station. The messaging center workstogether with the HLR to determine those mobile stations which areprogrammable and the order in which over-the-air programming shouldoccur with respect to those mobile stations. In the above example theprogramming relates to updating the intelligent roaming database. Thisis a significant application because the relationships between systemoperators is very fluid and changes over time. This information shouldbe transmitted to the subscribers who have the capability ofimplementing intelligent roaming so that they are appropriatelyeffecting the roaming in accordance with the most up-to-date informationregarding the relationship between the subscriber's service provider andother service providers.

The description of the present invention has focused on the transmissiontechnique which relies on short message service type messaging totransfer information from the message center to the mobile station. Itis respectfully submitted that such a technique can be used to implementother teleservices where data needs to be transferred from the serviceprovider to the programmable mobile station.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for updating service information storedin a mobile station from information stored in a central database, themethod comprising the steps of:identifying a plurality of mobilestations having service information storage capabilities and selectingsome subset of said plurality of mobile stations to be updated whereinsaid step of identifying includes the substeps of,scanning a subscriberdatabase, identifying those subscribers in the database having a mobilestation which has the capability of being updated, associating an updatestatus indicator with each subscriber identified to have the capabilityof being updated, wherein said update indicator identifies thesubscriber's mobile station as one that should be updated in the nextupdating operation; detecting whether a selected mobile station isactivated; if said selected mobile station is activated thentransferring updated service information from said central database tothe selected mobile station, and if said selected mobile station is notactivated then designate said selected mobile station to be updated whenit is later activated.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said serviceinformation includes data for managing intelligent roaming operations.3. The method of claim 1 wherein said service information includes datafor managing intelligent roaming operations.
 4. The method of claim 1further comprising a step of updating service information in the centraldatabase comprising the step of modifying a service information databasewithin said central database and said central database is included in anetwork message center.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein said step ofidentifying is automatically triggered by completion of said step ofupdating.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein after transferring updatedinformation from the central database to a selected mobile station, theupdate status indicator is reset.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein saidstep of updating service information comprises the step of modifying aservice information database within the central database and the centraldatabase is included in a network message center.
 8. The method of claim7 wherein said step of identifying is automatically triggered bycompletion of said step of updating.
 9. A method for updatingintelligent roaming information for a wireless telephone from anintelligent roaming database, the method comprising the stepsof:identifying wireless telephones having over-the-air programmability;setting an update status indicator for wireless telephones identified ashaving over-the-air programmability; detecting whether a wirelesstelephone that has its update status indicator set is activated; if saidwireless telephone is detected to be activated then transferring theintelligent roaming information from the intelligent roaming database tosaid wireless telephone; and if said wireless telephone is detected tonot be activated then designating said wireless telephone to receive theintelligent roaming information from the updated intelligent roamingdatabase when that wireless telephone is later activated.
 10. The methodof claim 9 further comprising the step of updating the intelligentroaming database wherein completion of said step of updating saidintelligent roaming database automatically triggers said step of settingan update status indicator.